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NCS juniors played well in another successful day of squash Saturday at Yale University in New Haven, CT. Nine of the fifteen here at the Bronze National Championships will play in semifinal, third place and/or finals matches on Sunday, an incredible result. Quite possibly more would still be playing through Sunday, but in several cases two NCS players had to play each other today, and obviously only one could win.

Having all the NCS players playing here has been great -- the players are all doing their best to support each other. It's like having a home away from home and a fan base hundreds of miles from home.

In the BU15s, Zach Ho topped Theo Mendez in the quarterfinals. Zach advances to the semifinals, and Theo plays a semifinal for the right to the fifth place match. Cameron Bahadori lost in the third round of the consolations, meaning he finished in the top 24 of the 60 players here, a promising start for an NCS rookie junior playing in his [...Read More...]

Congratulations to the 15 National Capital Squash area juniors who were accepted into the US SQUASH Bronze National Championships at Yale University April 23-25. This is a record number of NCS juniors who qualified for the tournament. We will be reporting each day on the highlights.

There is a record turnout here in BU15, with 60 juniors nationwide competing. Theo Mendez and Zach Ho cruised, winning both their first two matches comfortably, and both have advanced to the round of 16. Cameron Bahadori won his round of 64 match, then fell to the #1 seed in a competitive match. Cameron won his first round consolation match. Caden Petersmeyer lost his first round consolation match, playing very well and taking a game off a highly rated opponent. He moves to the plate division.

In BU17, Alex Alvarez overwhelmed his first two opponents, and has reached the quarterfinals, where he faces the #4 seed Saturday. Cyrus Nassikas, Greg Berson and Sam Patterson [...Read More...]

After a grueling winter of 36 matches at four Sport & Health Clubs, the SIVL Divisional Finals were held on February 26th. The Finals were one week after the SIVL tournament which attracted more than 100 juniors.

There were many impressive Junior performances in this year's Fisher Cup. Geoffrey Keating (div.5) won division five over Jeff Bede 3-1. Another title winner this year was Jacqueline Barnes of Bethesda who beat Donna Sharpe in the Women's C/D division. Merrit Moore also participated in Division 3, but lost in the first round. Kira Keating participated as well, but lost in the first round. Bryan Keating, playing Premier League, clawed his way to the finals after a victory over Results player Terry Hindermann. Bryan lost to Jake Gross in five in a grueling one hour twenty minute match, a rare sight at these events. The Fisher Cup is a great tournament Juniors can enter if they qualify, so get on court and join the league!

Concluding this year's undefeated season in regular play, The Potomac School squash team siezed the he ranking of 14th in the nation. Headed by Coach Steve Hufford and Captains Bryan Keating and Zander Nassikas, the team competed in the National High School Squash Championships February 6-8, 2009 in New Haven, Connecticut on the grounds of Yale University and Choate Rosemary Hall prep school. The largest single squash tournament in the world, it drew over 800 players from 93 teams and 16 states. For the second time in three years, Potomac boys team qualified to compete in Division 1, the top level of play in the nation. The team also dominated the Mid-Atlantic Confrence Championships this year, winning their second title in three years. The team came out victorious against their arch rival, Gilman 6-3.

The inaugural season of the Sport & Health Interclub Varsity League finished Friday Feb 29, 2008 with a presentation which saw Bethesda–Chevy Chase High School victorious. Caroline Sieber (B-CC Captain) was presented with the beautiful SIVL Cup which will be held in the Trophy Case at the school for the year. Connie Barnes, Director of Squash for Sport & Health, was magnanimous in her praise of Ms Sieber who also received a $200 Gift Certificate as the SIVL Most Valuable Player for the 2007-08 season.

Coach Barnes said that the SIVL has already become one of the largest High School squash leagues in the US . This season players from Landon, Whitman, St Albans, Holton Arms, Langley , Stone Ridge, Madeira , St Stephens and St Agnes, and GDS participated in 30 matches over the winter season. The B-CC team with its captain’s excellent promotion and organization skills included 17 players. Coach Barnes said that 3 other local school had already requested inclusion for [...Read More...]

Thank-you to those parents who visited with us last Tuesday to watch a stunning display of squash matches at the Sport & Health Middle School League SML at Bethesda S&H.

I was impressed by the wonderful sportsmanlike behavior and impressive squash (especially by newcomers Copper). The Pyle team are in their third year and their enthusiasm for the sport is terrific! Westland and Holton Arms are in their second year. The format for the competition included participants divided into 3 groups including players from different schools. Those players then played 1 game against each other. 103 games were played by 25 participants!

Outstanding performances were recorded by: Jacqueline (Pyle), Jeremy (Pyle), with special commendation for Nathalie (Holton Arms), Alex (Westland) and Phil (Cooper) in Group 1. Thomas (Westland) was outstanding with special commendation Tyler (Pyle) and Robby (Cooper) in Group 2. Win (Holton [...Read More...]

The Sport & Health Interclub Varsity League will start with a record number of school teams participating this year. The SIVL welcomes emerging teams from Holton Arms, St Albans , Langley and StoneRidge high schools. The teams will play in 27 matches over winter and also in the SIVL tournament Feb 8 – 10. The schedule can be found here. This year the teams are playing for the beautiful SIVL perpetual cup (pictured right) which will be engraved with the winning team’s name and be held at that school for the year. Director of Sport and Health Squash, Connie Barnes, also announced the commencement of the SIML Sport & Health Interclub Middle School league – this winter that competition will welcome emerging team Cooper Middle School . Middle school matches will be held at Bethesda Sport & Health on the new showcase courts on the following dates – Dec 11, January 15 and February 12 [...Read More...]

Bethesda S&H regular, Ben Rind, is spending 6 weeks in an intensive training program under the tutelage of Australian coach Marc Forster. Marc is currently coach to several Brisbane based PSA and WISPA players and has taken students of Ben's age on a temporary basis from around the world. His program is based at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia.

Ben will train daily with the squad and compete in several local tournaments. Of course a little time is also planned for exploring some of the culture of sub-tropical Brisbane and South-East Queensland including the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, Australia Zoo etc.
In the 1980's Brisbane was arguably the hot spot of world squash. It was the home of the Australian Institute of Sport's squash program which churned out players of the caliber of Chris Robertson, the Martin family, Rodney Eyles and other top [...Read More...]